2023 in the United States

2023
in
the United States

Decades:
See also:

The following is a list of events of the year 2023 in the United States.

The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt-ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown, all culminating in the removal of McCarthy on October 3. The debate over abortion has further continued, with numerous laws being passed by state legislatures and court decisions issued at all levels over the issue with last year's overturning of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey with Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Political and media attention also has focused on a series of alleged Chinese spy balloons entering US airspace, various candidates entering the race for the following year's presidential election, legal issues surrounding former president Donald Trump and to a lesser extent Representative George Santos, and the continued intensity of a culture war most notably escalated by an ongoing feud between Florida governor Ron DeSantis and the Walt Disney Company over the state's Parental Rights in Education Act.

2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year. The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood "double strike" conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG-AFTRA strike; these were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as teamsters and autoworkers won new contracts. Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions; some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure. Mass shootings in 2023 have also continued in high numbers, with 528 occurring as of October 2 according to Gun Violence Archive. Additionally in 2023, as of November 8, the US experienced 25 weather and climate disasters which caused at least $1 billion in damage each.

Incumbents

Federal government

Elections

Elections were held on November 7, 2023. This was an off-year election where neither the president or vice president were on the ballot. Seats in the US Congress were not up for election either, save for special elections. One vacancy in the Senate opened up this year due to the death of Dianne Feinstein; California governor Gavin Newsom appointed Laphonza Butler to serve the remainder of Feinstein's term.

Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi held elections for their governors, lieutenant governors, state treasurers, attorney generals, and state agriculture commissioners. The cities of Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Memphis, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City elected their mayors.

State and local elections

Special elections

Referendums

  • March 7 – Oklahoma voters rejected State Question 820, which if passed, would have legalized recreational cannabis for adults 21 and over, given a 15% excise tax on cannabis sales. The margin against State Question 820 was an overwhelming 62% against.
  • April 4 – Wisconsin voters approved Question 1, Question 2, and Question 3, all by landslides. Questions 1 and 2 were binding votes ratifying amendments to the Constitution of Wisconsin, Question 3 was a nonbinding referendum. Question 1 raised the conditions necessary for pretrial release from jail; Question 2 inserted an additional paragraph allowing judges wider latitude for when to apply cash bail for people accused of violent crimes; Question 3 posed the question "Shall able-bodied, childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive taxpayer-funded welfare benefits?" Question 3 had no legal effect, and Wisconsin law already has work requirements for all welfare programs in the state.
  • August 8 – Ohioans voted to reject Issue 1 by a margin of 57% against to 43% in favor. If passed, the ballot measure would have required future constitutional amendments to be passed by a 60% margin among other changes, as opposed to the existing 50% margin for approval. The ballot measure was widely seen as a litmus test for a November vote to codify abortion rights in the Republican-led state.
  • November 7

Ongoing events

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-01-07 14:06 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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